The present invention relates to an electromechanical watch including a timebase, a step by step or stepping motor driving time indicating members and a control circuit of the motor, which is itself controlled by the timebase.
The object of the present invention is to provide such a watch with means giving several indications relating, for instance, to the state or condition of the source of energy (battery or accumulator), the time of the day (morning or evening), the state of the alarm (running or rest) in the case of an alarm-watch, etc.
Concerning the indication of the end of life of the source of energy, which constitutes the main application of the present invention, it has to be noted that means are already known which allow detection and display of a diminution of the voltage of the source of energy. Such an arrangement appears, for instance, in Swiss Patent Application Ser. No. 6,627/73, in which an electro-optic passive display device is specially intended to indicate the end of life of the battery. This solution has however the drawback of being a supplementary device when the means for displaying the time is mechanical ones.
In another document, i.e. German Patent Application (DOS) Ser. No. 2,513,845, the end of life of the source of energy is indicated by one of the hands of the watch, the movement of the one hand being different when the voltage of the source of energy is lower than a threshold value. This solution is particularly adapted to the watches provided with a second hand, otherwise such a device is not easy to read.